Indiana legislators are pushing a tax on food and drink, arguing that the bill — HB 1154, which would allow counties to place a 1 percent tax on ready-to-eat food and drinks — wouldn’t affect most people, that it would affect the proverbial Other People, says Indiana Libertarian Party Executive Director Brad Klopfenstein.

“Who are these other people who would pay the proposed food and beverage tax?” Klopfenstein asks, pointing out that the Democrats and Republicans who are trying to sell the bill to the state House Ways and Means Committee “must think we’re stupid. There are four things that people need to survive — food, water, shelter and clothing. HB 1154 would tax half of these necessities.”

The bill was initially tailored for Wayne County, to allow the county to force taxpayers to fund a convention center on property owned by the same person who happens to own a Holiday Inn next door, Klopfenstein said.

But because the Indiana Constitution disallows legislation that targets only one county, the bill was altered so that all counties can assess the proposed tax.

The bill is expected to face a vote in the Ways and Means Committee later in January.

“Why does Wayne County need a new kind of tax when it could seek a property tax increase to cover the project?” Klopfenstein asked rhetorically, noting that taxpayers would be able to vote down an increased property tax, and have no similar way to stop a new sales tax.

It’s particularly ironic that a new sales tax would be proposed for an Indiana county that has a strong Libertarian Party affiliate — a group that would surely lead a drive against an increased property tax, he said.